Rivers and Roads
by madiigracee
Summary: After the Final Battle, Hermione returns to Hogwarts to finish her education without Ron and Harry. Alone for the first time in her life, Hermione is forced to figure out who she truly is. This task becomes even trickier when a certain Slytherin begins to show her a side of himself she'd never imagined-and it has her reconsidering everything about herself. DMxHG. Lemons hopefully.
1. Chapter 1

_After the Final Battle at Hogwarts, life is beginning to return to how it should've been, and the only thing left for Hermione to do is finish her final year at Hogwarts._

_This year will be filled with tears, with laughs, with joy, with sorrow. There will be new friends, old friends, found love and lost love. _

_Hermione will be forced to find herself without the company of Harry and Ron, and will befriend an old enemy that will force Hermione to confront everything she thought she knew about herself._

_Enjoy!_

Warning: this is a Hermione x Draco story. If you do not ship them, do not read. Hurtful/crude reviews will be removed.

_Without further ado, Rivers and Roads._


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: this story was inspired by the song "Rivers and Roads" by the Head and the Heart. I would highly suggest listening if you want a little "hint" about what the story might entail. Each chapter is based on a song that represents the state of a character/s._

_FYI: This is after the final battle. Everything will be explained. (: _

This is based on Dramione. If you don't like that ship, don't read. I fully support Hermione with Ron/Fred/Harry, I just personally prefer Dramione. (:

1. Not Ready to Make Nice (the Dixie Chicks)

Hermione emerged from the brick wall like the sun breaking through the clouds, though her mood was anything but sunny. Somewhere between the Burrow and King's Cross, Ron had managed to turn her rather excited demeanor sour. He'd been unhappy with her decision to return to Hogwarts without them, but then again, that was where most of their fights spurred from. Hermione was an independent woman. The past year had only strengthened that. Education was more important to her than her relationship with Ron at the moment, and that's where things got rocky.

She was his everything, how could he not be hers? He was now an official auror for the Ministry, he could finally provide for her, for his family, for himself. She needn't an education, he argued. She'd been through enough. Wasn't it enough for her to join him in his apartment in Diagon Alley and live simply?

Harry understood her reasons for leaving, though he too had asked her to stay, but only because being apart from each other exerted a sort've stress on each of them that had been known to send them all into full-out panic attacks. But they'd gotten better, and she knew there was nothing like Hogwarts to ease her stress.

Even before she'd reached Hogwarts she'd found herself feeling more relaxed. Shopping with Ginny for their school books had sent her into a familiar flurry of excitement that reminded her of the simpler days of her childhood, ink spots across her fingers reminded her of the familiar sound scratching of quills she would soon be surrounded with, and the smell of fresh parchment relaxed her tense muscles better than any other aromatherapy.

Ginny came behind her, clutching her books to her chest and not willing to let Harry's hand go just yet. Ron followed behind them, his hands shoved into his pockets and a bitter scowl plucked onto his lips. He briefly glanced at Hermione, as if he was unsure wether or not to carry on his pity-party, but upon seeing no change in her own demeanor, he let his face return to its previous scowl.

Maybe it was the way her Head Girl pin was sparkling extra bright this morning, or the way she hadn't seemed upset about leaving, or maybe it was the fact that after everything happened, she could still stand to be apart from him. Whatever it was, it was royally pissing him off, and he was almost happy to see her gone. Almost.

Harry pushed their cart towards the entrance that was the least crowded and turned to Ginny, a small, melancholy smile on his face. "Are you going to miss me?" Hermione heard Ginny ask.

Hermione knew that Harry would definitely miss Ginny, but she was no fool. She knew that half or more of his sadness this morning was simply because he was feeling empty without Hogwarts. Hermione had begged him to return with her, but it was no use. Being an auror was what he dreamed of, and the scars from last May weren't ready to be torn open yet.

"Of course," Harry remarked at last. Hermione smiled gently to herself. Harry, ever the gentleman.

Their conversation left Hermione unsteady. Was Ron expecting her to ask him the same? Did he even want to talk to her? Harry turned to Hermione to wrap his arms around her, his lips ghosting lightly over her forehead as they had come accustomed to doing in the last year. "Take care of yourself, won't you?" He asked her lightly, a wise smiling lighting up his features.

"Of course. You too." She leaned closer to him, and whispered in his ear, "Do try to get Ron to forgive me." Harry nodded once and then took Ginny's hand is his own and they disappeared through the crowd. _Thanks Harry_, Hermione thought sarcastically.

Ron shuffled his feet awkwardly while one of the train conductors took Ginny's and Hermione's things, hardly able to look at Ron and Hermione whilst he did so. After a minute of uncomfortable silence, Hermione cleared her throat and began a well thought-out speech she'd been expecting to give him. "I know you're still mad at me," she began slowly, her hand clenching around her wand instinctually. "I know that you're mad because I'm putting my education before our relationship and I know that you don't understand how I could do that to you, but you have to try to understand that this is who I am."

"Yeah, I know, Hermione." His voice was quiet and ashamed, like Hermione was scolding him for stealing from the cookie jar.

"So that's why I have to do this, Ron," Hermione continued on like he'd never spoke to begin with. She knew this was the right decision.

"I know that this is important to you..." he said slowly before taking a step closer to her, "but you are important to me. Aren't the things that important to me equally important to me as they are to you?"

"People aren't things that you can just hold back because you're afraid to lose them." Hermione said in a low, tight voice. It was something she firmly believed. "I didn't stop you when you believed that leaving us was the best thing for you. I didn't. I let you go-in a time of death and danger. Don't you understand how hard that was?"

Ron's lips pressed into a thin line. "Ok."

"Ron, please," she was grasping for something with her words, but Ron was moving away now, and she knew his mind was made up. "I'm not trying to hurt you. I'll be back in less than a year."

Once more, he replied, "Ok." It was a cold, heartless sentiment, and Hermione loathed him for it. How could he be so rude about these things? He turned on his heels to leave, but before he could, he took two steps towards and let the tips of his fingers fall to her cheek. He stared intently into her eyes for a minute before letting his thumb trace a small, crescent shaped line over her cheek. "You come back to me, you hear?" His voice was small and scared and a little bit angry, but she didn't mind. She caught his hand in her own and held it to her cheek, closing her eyes for a minute before whispering her own reply. Then his hand was gone, and he was speeding away into the crowd of bodies.

The girls' compartment of the train had grown loud and chaotic, and while Hermione usually preferred peace and quiet, it was a nice example of how everything was better now. Luna had gained weight and looked drastically better, the pale purple bruises beneath her eyes were long gone, and her jovial and flighty personality was back in full force. Ginny was making crude jokes with Patel that had everyone laughing and crying, even Padma, who was usually embarrassed and shy. Their laughter was only briefly paused by a tall, blonde boy dressed in a dark grey suit passing outside their door.

"He's really coming back to school?" Hannah Abbot asked, her eyebrows gently knitted together in concern.

"I can't believe it. If I was him, I'd want to run and hide in shame." Ginny said hotly, in a voice that made Hermione roll her eyes.

"Draco couldn't help the situations he was born into. Nobody can. It's unfair to punish someone for something that is out of their concern." The previously loud compartment was now dead silent as the girls turned to listen to Hermione's sentiments.

"His aunt nearly killed you. He tried to kill Dumbledore. He joined Voldemort when he was asked, without second thought."

"You would have too, if not joining meant watching your mother and father die before your very eyes." Hermione quipped. She didn't know why she was so eager to defend him, it had something to do with the trials. The Malfoys had been tried just as the rest of the Death-Eaters, with Lucius given life in Azkaban, while Narcissa had been given protection due to Harry's testament of her saving his life, and Draco could not help the things he'd been forced to do. Hermione had testified that he had been unwilling to identify them to his family. She couldn't say what she really wanted to say, which was that she'd found his grey eyes when his aunt had decided to engrave the dirty name upon her arm, she'd found his eyes, and she'd found everything she was feeling inside of them: fear, desperation, horror, love, disgust, the list went on. The point was, Hermione had found a flicker of something in Draco's eyes that filled her with confirmation that Draco was not a spoiled brat, but a scared little boy.

"Well I don't forgive him," Ginny huffed quietly. "I'm allowed to be mad. I'm not ready to make nice with anybody. They took Professor Lupin and Tonks and Mad-Eye and Lavender and Fred." At once, Patel's arms were around Ginny's slender frame, but Ginny wasn't crying. Ginny was staring fixedly at Hermione, her brown eyes burning with some kind of furry that Hermione instantly recoiled from.

"I wasn't saying you had to. I was just pointing out that he's as human as the rest of us: a mere pawn in the hands of destiny."

"The Battle is over..." Luna reminded everyone in a quiet voice. "We fought to end blood prejudices, right? We can't prejudice people when we fought to end that very same thing. Anyways, your Nargoyles are all fuzzy right now, and it's making it very hard for me to see. Do you think you could all stop fighting?"

It had only been Hermione and Ginny fighting, but Luna had the politeness to direct it to _all_ the girls. Hermione took Ginny's hand in her own and gave it a tight squeeze. "I'm sorry." She whispered in a half-smile that Ginny returned.

The eighth-years were assembled in their own respective area, told by Filch to wait for him to get a few carriages ready for the small body of students that was compromised mostly of Gryffindors and then trickled slowly into the other houses. Hannah Abbot was one of the only Ravenclaws, while Luna and Cho were two of about ten Hufflepuffs. Surprisingly, there were quite a few Slytherins on the dock, all of their eyes casted to their feet and as silent as rocks. Scattered throughout the Slytherins Hermione didn't really know was Theodore Nott, Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson, and of course, Draco Malfoy himself.

Nobody was in much of a conversational mood, not even Neville, who was stood beside Hermione with a sad look on his face as he watched the castle through the woods. Seamus was unusually quiet, and Hermione could imagine how he felt at returning without Dean this year. She could only imagine what torturous hell they had coming for them. She had been naive to think she could return to the castle without constantly remembering how she had walked down the steps to the Great Hall convinced it was the last time she would ever see her best friend. How could she pass the corridor to the potions classrooms without remembering the horrified look Fenir Greyback had left in Lavender's lifeless eyes?

Hermione felt something warm squeeze her hand and she realized that Neville's hand had connected to her own, their thoughts not so far apart. She was glad for his comfort, though it could not cure the aching sadness she felt within her bones.

Professor McGonagall, or rather, Headmistress McGonagall, appeared in front of them suddenly, her lips pursed in a thin line and just a tint of sadness in her eyes. "May I first address how proud I am of each and everyone of you for returning-and proud of those who could not return... this year will be no easy feat, I will not lie to you. I have been back at our school for a week and I have found myself dreading walking into the Great Hall myself. I know that you will all face the aftermath of last year now, and believe me when I say this: I praise you for it. But if, at any moment you find yourself finding it all... to unbearable... I am prepared to dismiss you at your discretion... or allow you small reprieves from your rigorous studies. That being said, I do wish you all to try your hardest this year and focus on your studies as I am sure they will help you focus on the future you all have to look forward to. Good luck, and do come talk to me if there is anything I can do." She spun on her heel shortly after giving them each and heartfelt parting glance, her pace brisk. Not moments later, Filch grunted something about following him, and they were on there way towards the castle, each a little more nervous than the next.


End file.
